Cabinet clears amendments to remove anomalies in HC judges’ pensions
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the proposal to amend the High Court Judges Act removing anomalies in pensionary benefits of HC judges.
Once the Act is amended by Parliament, a HC judge elevated from the bar will have his 10 years of practice as advocate added to his service tenure for calculation of pensionary benefits.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called the report ‘one-rank-one pension for judges’ as mischievous. It is only that 10 years deemed service will be added to those who are elevated from the Bar. Till now, a judge’s pension has been based on the number of his service years, thus putting those elevated from the Bar at a disadvantage compared to those from the judicial service.
By moving the amendment, the government has also followed a Supreme Court judgment of last year which had asked the government to remove the anomalies.
In the apex court had in its judgment also said that to remove arbitrariness in the matter of pension of HC judges elevated from the Bar, the relief should be reckoned from April 1, 2004.
The government will bring a bill in Parliament amending the law relating to high court judges salaries and conditions in service.
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